That Girl
by Laura Louisa Lewis
Summary: "I know that girl. I was that girl, you know? Some nights, I still am that girl," Officer Eddie Janko told her partner, Jamie Reagan, in the midst of trying to help a teenaged runaway purse thief. "And a couple of cops did me a favor once, and, you know what, it made all the difference." The story behind Eddie's remarks in S4 Ep 12, Bogeyman. #8 in the Story Behind That series.
1. Chapter 1

**That Girl**

 **CHAPTER 1**

 _Author's Note: So, I'm doing something slightly different with this entry in the "Story Behind That" series. This one focuses on a comment made by Eddie Janko instead of by a Reagan family member. But Eddie is almost family now, right? :) Thanks to Lawslave for suggesting this one a few years ago!_

 _Some dialogue in this chapter adapted from the Season 4 episode, Bogeyman._

* * *

Jamie Reagan took a quick look at his watch. _Five minutes_. They'd been waiting outside this convenience store for five minutes already. What took girls so long to use the facilities?

That impatient action did not go unnoticed by his partner. "I guess she really did have to pee, you know?" Eddie commented. But even she was starting to wonder just what her young charge… Well not so much her charge. Her mentee? Maybe that's what Morgan was. She could be a mentor to Morgan; help her get back on a good path, just like a couple of cops had done for her a few years ago… She had to wonder what Morgan was doing in that restroom.

"Yeah. Probably too scared to go in the jail," Jamie agreed. Although, now that he thought about it, Morgan didn't seem like the type that was afraid of anything… "Want to go in and check on her?"

 _Guys just didn't understand._ Eddie knew what she'd want if she'd spend the night in jail: a few minutes alone in a safe, private place to take care of business and freshen up. Touch up the hair and makeup so she'd looked as good as possible for the reunion with the folks. "In a sec," she told Jamie. "You know it's a good thing; what we're doing here."

Jamie watched Morgan Whatever-her-last-name-was stealthily peek around the corner of the building again. Clearly, she'd snuck out a back door and was looking for someone. Maybe those kids in the red Camaro that was pulling into the parking lot. "Yeah, it is. You want to go check on her?" Jamie hinted again.

"Like what we sign up for. You know? Making a difference," Eddie continued, as if Jamie hadn't said anything. "If I can help one person get back on the right path, then... I'm doing my job. You know what I mean?"

"Mm-hmm." Jamie watched as Morgan sprinted over to the car and dove into the back seat behind the driver. "Yeah. I do, and I... I hope you get to experience that someday, I really do." It just wasn't going to happen today with Morgan, obviously.

Eddie sighed. "You're not even listening. Seeing this through with young Morgan in there? It's... it's giving me that good feeling."

Jamie worked at keeping a neutral expression. Eddie really was sincere in her desire to help Morgan; his laughing about this turn of events would just make it sting worse. "Yeah, well, the thing is? Young Morgan? Just took off with two dudes in a red Camaro. She must have texted them."

"Get out!" Eddie twisted around to look out Jamie's window. "Where?"

"She went that way." Jamie gestured over his shoulder.

"Yeah, well, let's go after her."

Jamie glanced at his partner. "On what charge? Punking you?"

"Ooooh!" Eddie dropped back into her seat with an exasperated sigh. "Come on."

"Does she still remind you of you?" Jamie asked a minute later.

 _Actually, yes_ , Eddie thought to herself. Running like that was just the kind of thing she would have done. "Hey. I'm gonna need you to try... try not to enjoy this too much."

"I'll try," Jamie teased his partner one last time.

Eddie let out another annoyed huff. "I just wish she'd let me help her," she muttered.

Jamie backed the car up and began the long drive back to Manhattan. He took a quick look over at his despondent partner. "You want to tell me about it?"

"About what?" Eddie huffed. "You know how she played me. You just saw it."

"No, about how you used to be her, and about those cops that turned things around for you," Jamie explained.

"No, you don't want to hear about that," Eddie demurred. "It was just a bad time all around."

"Come on. It's going to be a long drive back to Manhattan, even longer if you're sitting over there sulking about Morgan."

"I'm _not_ sulking." Eddie crossed her arms across her chest and sat back farther in her seat.

"Are too. How did it happen?"

"It wasn't anything. Just a couple of cops gave me a break when they could've made things worse." Eddie replied as she decided to give into Jamie's request. "Listen. Nothing I tell you goes outside of the car, okay?"

"I swear. Not a word."

"It was a few weeks into my freshman year of college, only months after the whole mess with my father hit the newspaper. I was headed back to my dorm room after dinner…"

==BB==BB==

"I can't believe your room actually has a view, Edie," Hailey told her new friend, Edie Ivanovic, as they walked down the hall toward the room. "I mean, I move here from Pittsburgh, and Melissa come up from Baltimore…"

"Ellicott City," Melissa interrupted.

"… and you're from here, and you're the only one whose room has a view of something besides another window," Hailey finished. "Remind me why we're studying in my room instead of yours?"

Eddie turned to her new friends. "It's not _that_ special a view," she told them. "And we're using your room because you have a better TV, and my roomie Natalie likes her 'peace and…" Eddie's voice trailed off as she turned the corner toward her door and saw the picture taped to it. She stopped so abruptly that Hailey walked into her, and then Melissa into both of them, a chain reaction that in any other circumstances would have been hilariously funny.

"Brake lights, Edie," Hailey teased before she noticed the picture. "What's that about?"

Eddie couldn't breathe. It was _that_ picture. The one that newspaper photographer had taken of her and her mother entering the building housing the SEC's office in lower Manhattan. She'd spotted the one journalist and his photographer and had tried to hide; had pulled the hood of her coat tighter around her face while hunching over to sneak a sideways glance at the photographer, just so she'd know where he was, but her mother had ignored the journalists and marched straight into the building, carrying herself like the Serbian aristocrat she was descended from, almost daring them to take her picture. And that damn photographer had snapped a shot, and that photo had run in every paper in New York and around the country, with the caption _Karina Ivanovic Janko and daughter Edith face questioning at the SEC New York office_. That damn photo. Her mother had scolded her for slouching and cowering, as if that was the important point when their life was being shredded. That photo marked the beginning of the end of her old life; once people saw the story of Armin Janko's misdeeds in print accompanied by that photo, even the friends who had not been directly affected financially started turning against the whole Janko family until they were social outcasts.

And now that same damn photo was going to destroy the life she was trying to rebuild, as New York University student Edie 'that's pronounced E-dee, and no, it's not short for anything' Ivanovic. Her mother had filed for divorce from Armin Janko and gone back to using her maiden name, and was slowly creating a fresh start away from the Janko legacy. And that's all Eddie had wanted for herself – a new start where no one knew whose daughter she was. But clearly, someone had figured it out; found that photo and recognized 'Edith Janko' as their fellow student Edie Ivanovic, and then taped that picture to her dorm room door, her face circled in red and 'daughter of that SOB' written across in it large letters. She wondered if her roommate, Natalie Karolin, had seen it yet.

At that moment, Natalie yanked the door open. "Well. Look who's here." She slammed an open hand against the photo. "Edi _th_ Ivanovic _Janko_ ," she sneered. "A liar, just like her father."

Eddie finally sucked in a small bit of air, just enough to keep from passing out. Her new life had lasted for all of three weeks, and now everyone was going to know the whole sordid story. She should have asked for a new roommate as soon as she learned Natalie was also of Serbian heritage and from nearby southwest Connecticut. She should have realized there was too much of a risk that Natalie or someone in her extended family had been affected by the scandal; the Serbian community in the greater NYC area wasn't _that_ large. But it was too late to change that now. She had to do something; say something before her new friends deserted her. Maybe humor would help; her father always said a good joke could disarm any situation. Eddie tried to smile. "Edith Janko? I'm not old enough for a grannie name like that."

Natalie turned away from her to tape a printout of newspaper article to the door. _Janko Arrested for Securities Fraud_ , the headline read. "So this reporter got it right and it's really Edit? How old country of your mother," Natalie sneered.

"You leave my Mom out of this," Eddie seethed at her roommate. "Edit was my grandmother's name."

"Edith. Edit. Big effing difference, E _dit_ Liar-ovic _Janko_."

"It's not a lie," Eddie argued. "My mother's name is Ivanovic." She tried to move around her roommate to get into their shared room, with the intent of grabbing her bookbag and getting out of Natalie's sight for a while, until she'd cooled down.

Natalie wrapped one arm around the back of the door and grabbed on to the doorframe with the other, effectively blocking Eddie's entry into the room. "Your name doesn't matter, 'Eee-dee'. What matters is your father's name is Armin Janko. That thief who bankrupted my uncle and his family. Or are you going to lie about that also?"

While Eddie was trying to think of how to respond, Hailey jumped in to try and calm the situation. "Hey, Natalie, cool it. Whatever happened wasn't Edie's fault."

Eddie swallowed hard. Hailey would try to defend her. She was from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; too far away to hear or see the news coverage of the Janko family downfall, or to be affected by Armin Janko's financial scheming. And Melissa was from away also – from Ellicott City, some small town outside of Baltimore, Maryland. "No, he's my father," she finally said quietly. "Any my name's Edit Janko, and if you'll let me get my books, I'd like to go study in the library for a while."

While Hailey and Melissa stared at her in shock, Natalie's response was much more physical. She shoved Eddie so hard Eddie stumbled into the wall on the opposite side of the hallway. "So that's how you afford the tuition here, and this room, and that fancy car. With the money you stole from my cousin," Natalie almost screamed right in Eddie's face. "You know she's having to live at home and go to community college part time? All because of your father."

"That's not true," Eddie started to argue, then raised an arm to protect herself as she saw Natalie raising a hand to slap her.

"Hey, stop!" Melissa rushed forward to yank Natalie away from Eddie while Hailey moved between the two. "What is wrong with you?"

Natalie struggled against Melissa's grip. "That little bitch's father ruined everything. Karla and I were supposed to be roomies here at NYU. We'd planned it forever!" Natalie snapped. She turned around, ran into their dorm room and slammed the door behind her.

"Hey! Natalie, come on. Let me in," Eddie twisted the locked doorknob to her room.

Natalie opened the door seconds later and threw an armful of Eddie's clothes at her. "Leave."

Eddie was still standing there, staring at the closed door and the scattered clothing in shock, when the floor resident assistant showed up.

"Is there a problem, ladies?" the RA had asked.

"My roommate…" Eddie tried to pull her thoughts together. "She's mad at me."

Natalie yanked open the door. "Do you know who she is? She's that girl!" Natalie pointed to the photograph and article on the door. "That crook Armin Janko's daughter."

"So?" the RA asked.

"You know what he did! He stole from my cousin's family. Took all their money and lost it in some big scheme. And because of her, my cousin couldn't come to college here with me."

"Natalie, you can't blame Edie for her father's actions," the RA tried to counsel.

"Says you. I think I can, and I'm not rooming with her. Not after what she did to my cousin."

"I didn't do anything to your cousin, so quit accusing me of that," Eddie snapped at the girl she'd worked for weeks to develop a friendship with; the girl who had now turned on her with shocking suddenness.

"Your father did. Destroyed Karla's life."

"Well, it's not like he didn't make a mess of my life also!" Eddie yelled back.

"Says the little bitch with the fancy car and the college fund," Natalie sneered. She turned to the RA. "I won't live with her. I can't. It's impossible."

"If you two can't straighten this out, we'll have to find you new roommates tomorrow. Natalie, do you have a friend you could stay with tonight?" the RA asked.

Natalie crossed her arms across her chest. "And why do I have to leave?"

"Because you're the one making the problem," the RA explained.

"I know a girl upstairs," Natalie admitted. "But she's not staying here with my stuff. I don't trust her not to steal it."

"Eddie can stay with us tonight, if she wants to." Hailey volunteered.

"Who wants you stupid junk, anyway?" Eddie muttered at the same time, just loud enough for Natalie to hear.

Natalie lashed out at her again, barely missing striking Eddie again thanks to the RA pulling Natalie back.

"Time out! Ladies! You keep that up, someone's going to stay in the city jail tonight," she snapped. "Listen. Obviously, you can't live together anymore. Both of you give me your keys. I'll escort you into the room, you'll each get what you need for tonight and tomorrow morning and then you'll go to your friend's rooms. We'll meet with the Housing Office to get things rearranged tomorrow, okay?"

"Fine," Eddie agreed.

==BB==BB==

"Wow, Natalie sounds like a real piece of work," Jamie commented.

"Or something."

"So, did someone call the cops on her? They should've."

"No, that was later on. We both left our room, and I went to Hailey's. But I couldn't stay…"

==BB==BB==

And they quickly put the RA's plan into motion. Eddie grabbed a shirt and some clean undies from her dresser, her toiletries basket, and the one book she needed for her 9:00 AM class, while Natalie did the same on her side of the room. Then they both handed their keys over to the RA, and Eddie silently walked between Hailey and Melissa back to their room. She knew her friends were going to want to talk about the whole damn story, but she couldn't do it. She was just so damn freakin' angry right now – not at Hailey or Melissa, but that's how it was going to come out. As they passed the staircase, Eddie came to a decision. "Guys, thanks for taking me in, but I think I'm just going to head out to my Mom's for tonight," she said with a gesture toward the stairs.

"E, we don't mind you staying with us," Hailey argued. "Melissa has that bean-bag chair you could use. It's actually comfortable."

"No. I need to talk to Mom." That was an outright lie; she and her mother hardly talked anymore. Sometimes, Eddie felt like she was getting in the way of her mother's 'fresh start'; her name, her face, her presence a constant reminder of everything that had gone wrong before. But she couldn't stay with her friends tonight; couldn't tell them the whole story and have them feeling sorry for her after what her father had done; couldn't risk that they too would turn on her like Natalie had. "And Silver needs some exercise, right?" Eddie joked in reference to the sparkling new Porsche her father had gifted her for graduation.

"If you're sure, Eddie," Hailey agreed. "But call when you get there, okay?"

"Sure," Eddie said. She'd call Hailey, but where she'd be calling from, she didn't really know. She accepted Hailey's quick hug, then jogged down the stairs and over to the parking level where Silver was parked. In some ways, that car was a big, flashy reminder of her father's misdeeds. He must have known his schemes were about to collapse, because last September, he'd put enough funds to purchase the car in an irrevocable trust in her name, with specific instructions to the trustee to use the money to purchase the car – titled to Edit Janko - upon her graduation from high school. Why would he have done all of that to protect that money and the car itself from seizure, if he hadn't suspected the SEC was on to him? Some days, Eddie just wanted to put the damn thing in neutral and shove it off the roof of the parking garage. Did her father think that his trickery (or 'careful planning' as he had called it) made up for all the wrong he'd done? But every time she had that thought, she reconsidered. Silver was such a nice car – sleek lines, powerful engine, and a convertible to boot! How could she destroy it?

==BB==BB==

"Ed, promise me, if you ever think about pushing that car off a roof again, call me first, okay?" Jamie asked.

"And you'll come talk me down?"

"No, I'll come buy the car from you. That's too nice a piece of machinery to…. Ow!" Jamie yelped with a snicker as Eddie's fist connected with the side of his arm.

"It's not for sale," Eddie joked. "And, anyway, I've moved past that now. And, if you don't stop interrupting, you're never going to hear about what happened."

"Okay, okay. So, you were at your car, considering car-icide. Wait, is that when you ran into the cops?"

"No, and 'car-icide' isn't a crime. It isn't even a _word_. It was a little later that night…"

* * *

 _Tomorrow: Just what did Eddie do to get in trouble with the cops?_


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER 2**

 _Thanks for the reviews!_

* * *

Eddie sat down in the car and turned the engine over, then rev'ed it a few times, listening to the engine's powerful hum. Usually, that noise calmed her down. But not tonight. Every _vroom_ of the engine just seem to increase her anger – at Natalie, at her father, at the whole damn situation. Finally, she put the car in gear and peeled out of the parking spot faster than she should have. She spent the next half-hour driving through Manhattan's crowded streets, stopping at a few parks here and there; driving to the top of a few parking garages, trying to get control of her raging thoughts. But it wasn't working. Nothing seemed to calm her down tonight. Maybe she should give her brain some help. There were plenty of liquor stores in the area, and when she'd had a beer or two at high-school parties, it had always seemed to mellow her mood. She pulled away from the curb and started driving down the street, scanning each side for liquor store that seemed likely to sell her some beers, no questions asked, no ID required.

An hour later, she had her six-pack of beer. The shopkeeper had probably overcharged her, but he hadn't asked for ID. In fact, the only question he'd asked when she asked for a pack of beers was a leering, 'Having a bad day, sweetie-pie?', accompanied by an offer to help her drink her troubles away. Ugh. What a creep. Now all she had to do was find some place she could consume her purchase. She almost laughed as a thought crossed her mind. She'd bought the beer illegally; she was only eighteen, making her a criminal. But, hey, what was one more criminal the Janko family?

As she drove aimlessly through lower Manhattan, she suddenly noticed where she was. She pulled Silver to a stop in front of the building where _it_ had all begun. The investigation into her father's illegal activities. And also where it had all ended for her perfect life, living in a lovely house on Long Island with her mother and father; attending all the top social events and hobnobbing with the crème of society. All because of some investigator in this building had decided to look into her father's financial dealings.

Eddie got out of the car, slammed the door behind herself and walked around to the passenger side of the car. She leaned back against the car, looking up at the towering building. Somewhere on one of those floors was the office where Special Investigator Goodling of the Securities and Exchange Commission had opened a folder, wrote the name _Armin Janko_ on the front and proceeded to utterly destroy her life. She opened the car door, pulled out a bottle of beer from the six-pack she'd bought, popped the cap off and gulped down a long pull.

As she tilted the bottle back down, she caught a glimpse of the main entrance doors. The same doors she and her mother had walked through only a few months ago, back when they still believed her father was innocent and it was all some huge misunderstanding. The same cement pillar next to them where that news photographer had been lurking, waiting to shoot the picture that had just destroyed her new life. Months of anger suddenly flared. "Screw you, Special Investigator Goodling," Eddie screamed and hurled the almost-full bottle at the building with every ounce of upper-body strength she'd developed from years of cheerleading and softball. It shattered against the column between the windows with a satisfying splatter of beer and glass.

But for some reason, it didn't make her feel any better. In fact, the beer trickling down the window suddenly looked like tears, and she found herself gasping for breath and trembling, trying to hold in the sobs. _Damn him. Damn all of them. Goodling, her father, Natalie, all of them. She didn't cry in public._ Eddie angrily wiped at the tears that were running down her face and pulled out a second beer. She tried to pop the cap off of that one also, but she was still shaking with anger too much to hold the bottle steady enough. Her gaze again fell on the column where Robert Smith, reporter extraordinaire (in his own mind, at least), and his photographer had hidden to ambush her and her mother all those months ago. The two 'journalists' had hounded her and her mother for weeks after that, trying to either get an interview or find some proof that Karina Janko and her daughter were co-conspirators and not innocent victims. Eddie gasped as a though crossed her mind. Is that how Natalie had found that article and the photo? Had Robert and his little pet camera jockey pulled together enough innuendo and speculation to publish something new in the local rag they worked for? Not that it really mattered how, she though; the effect was going to be the same. Her fresh start was over before it really got off the ground. Thanks to that photo, everyone at school was going to know who she really was: Edit Janko, daughter of that thief Armin.

Eddie choked back another sob as a thought hit her. If Robert Smith had published something new, all of this could have been avoided if she'd just started over somewhere else far enough away from NYC that no one would read his little newspaper. Why had she ever chosen to go college in New York? There were plenty of schools far away from the city where no one would have any idea who Armin Janko was; where no would have even cared even if they had known. That right, she recalled, she hadn't had a choice. The college savings account, one of the few Janko assets protected from seizure by the SEC, would only cover her tuition and expense at an in-state college. Out of state hadn't been a choice at all. Maybe she should have chosen a school away from the city. But this city had always been her home. The past few months had taken so much from her – her father, her mother to a large degree; their home, their friends, their community. She hadn't wanted to let Goodling and Robert Smith and his photographer take her city from her also. But now, it looked like that might be happening. _Damn Special Investigator Goodling. Damn him, damn Robert Smith and his dream of winning a Pulitzer reporting on the 'mini-Madoffs', damn Mr. Photographer, damn you all!_ She drew back her arm to pitch the second beer bottle at the building when flashing blue lights atop a white car suddenly illuminated the night.

"Put down the bottle," a voice boomed from the car's PA system.

Eddie dropped the bottle in surprise and it broke open on the sidewalk. _The police!_ Now she was going to jail, just like her father. She tried unsuccessfully to keep back another sob. Her new life really was over now.

Two police officer, a tall rotund man and a woman about her size, stepped out of the car and walked toward Eddie. "Miss, are you okay? What's going on here?" the female officer asked.

"'m fine," Eddie choked out as she tried to get control of herself. She swallowed hard several times. "He…" Another sob interrupted her explanation.

"Shh. It's okay. Why don't you come have a seat over here." The officer guided her over to the side of their car and helped her sit back against the hood. "Now, tell me what happened. Did someone hurt you?"

Eddie wiped away more tears and then clenched her hands into fists at her side. "No. It's not that," she finally choked out. "It's… Special Investigator Goodling. He ruined my life, and sent my father to prison, and now everyone at school is going to know, and all I wanted was a new start like my mother, and now that's all ruined too and I'm just so effing _angry_ at everyone." And now she was babbling like an idiot, and, damn it, the tears just wouldn't stop.

==BB==BB==

"You didn't say _effing_ ," Jamie interrupted. "I've heard you. You curse like a drunken sailor when you get riled up."

"Edie Ivanovic didn't," Eddie teased back. "But, yeah, I said the F word. I'm trying to keep it clean for you, Mr. Boy Scout. And if you want to keep interrupting, maybe I won't tell you the rest of the story."

"Okay. Shutting up. Please, continue."

"So, I'm blubbering to Officer Collins, and the other guy – Officer Mowery – is doing something with the radio. Running the plate, I guess. And then he asked me one question… "

==BB==BB==

"Miss, what's your name?" Officer Mowery asked.

Eddie sniffled. "Edie Ivanovic." It wasn't really a lie, she told herself. That was the name on her student ID, and she planned to change it on her driver's license next time it renewed.

"Funny, because the car's registered to an Edit Janko."

"It's pronounced 'Eh-deet', not 'Ed-it,' and it's only registered under _that_ name because I haven't had time to get my name changed yet," Eddie snapped at the officer as her emotions quickly swung back to anger.

"So you're Edit Janko?" the officer asked. "You got any ID?"

Eddie dug through her purse and pulled out her driver license. "See? Edit Janko, daughter of the financial scam artist extraordinaire and convicted criminal Armin Janko, and I guess a criminal now also."

"Well, that's something we'll have to figure out," the officer said as he looked over the license he'd taken from her. "Collins, come over here for a minute," he summoned his partner, and the two moved to the front of the car and began talking quietly.

Eddie glanced at the officers. _What were they doing?_ She thought about running, but Officer Mowery still had her license, and just how would that work out well for her in the end, anyway?

A few minutes later, Mowery walked back over to her. "So, Collins and I have some more to discuss, and we're going to do it over dinner. You're joining us."

"Are you arresting me?" Eddie asked.

"Nah, not yet. If we arrest you, we got to do a lotta paperwork before meal break, and I'm hungry now."

"Mowery," Collins protested.

"Okay, we need to get some more info before we decide anything, and we think we'll get it easier over our dinner." Officer Mowery told her. "There's a diner just down the street that has some of the best burgers in the borough, and don't even get me started on their chocolate pie…"

"Please. Don't get Lee started on that pie. We'll be hearing about that pie for hours if you do," Collins teased. "Can we trust you to follow us over there?"

"Okay," Eddie agreed. Coffee and pie at the diner sounded better than a trip to the nearest lockup. And besides, Officer Mowery still had her license.

It had been a short trip to the diner, and the waitress had quickly taken their orders – a turkey club for Officer Collins, and the half-pound deluxe burger with bacon and extra cheese for Mowery, with a slice of pie for afterward. Eddie had ordered a coffee for herself. And while they waited for the food, the two officers had pulled the entire story out of her. How her father had scammed so many people, the SEC investigation, her father's guilty plea that had avoided a trial but led to a sentence of six to eight years, the subsequent dismantling of her entire life as various Janko family assets were seized by the SEC; the assorted news stories in every paper from the Serbian community paper, to the local New York papers, all the way up to a short write-up in the New York Times; how as the facts came out in each news story and in each court filing or hearing, more and more of the few friends they had left – the few her father hadn't scammed – had deserted them; how she and her mother had found themselves unwelcome at the country club, the Serbian social clubs, the nice restaurants, their church, her school – places the Janko name had been respected only a few months before; the petition for divorce filed by her mother; her mother's new life under her maiden name, a new life that seemed to exclude her; how she had tried to make that same new life for herself as Edie Ivanovic. And how it had all completely fallen apart only a few hours ago when her roommate had found that newspaper article and photo…

"There was a 'where-are-they-now' story in the Post this morning. Your father's name was mentioned," Officer Collins confirmed Eddie's suspicions about what had happened.

"Robert Smith strikes again," Eddie grumbled. "And now, I'm going to have to start over again, somewhere else, where no one knows about my father."

"Or you could stay and be yourself. Edit, Eddie, Armin Janko's daughter," Officer Mowery argued.

"But everybody hates the Janko family," Eddie protested. "I told you about how all our _friends_ abandoned us."

"They hate what the newspapers tell them about the Janko family. You could show them they're wrong, that what your father did doesn't make you a bad person; that you haven't done anything wrong."

"Edit, this is the kind of situation where you see who your true friends are," Officer Collins added. "The people who stick with you, like this Hailey – they're the one you want as your friends. They're the ones that see _you_ for who _you_ are and will stand by your side through thick and thin. The ones who judge you based on what your father did? They aren't the kind of people you need in your life."

Eddie shrugged. "I guess so…"

Any further response was cut off as the waitress arrived carrying two plates of food. "Club for you, hon," she said as she put the sandwich down in front of Officer Collins, "and the deluxe for you." She reached in front of Eddie to put the plate down in front of Officer Mowery.

Eddie longingly eyed the burger as it moved in front of her. Her tummy suddenly rumbled loudly and her mouth started watering. She watched enviously as Officer Mowery picked up the sandwich.

Officer Mowery noticed her rapt gaze. "What? You didn't get dinner?"

"I haven't had a burger in _weeks_ ," Eddie blurted out. She couldn't stop staring at Mowery's sandwich. God, that looked so good!

"NYU doesn't serve burgers?" Officer Mowery asked.

"They do," Eddie admitted, "But everyone in high school teased me about how much I ate, so I decided that Edie Ivanovic was going to be a light eater. It's been nothing but salads and grilled chicken for _weeks_."

Officer Mowery laughed. "Poor Eddie. 'Edie' has been starving her all this time."

"Lee, be nice. Give her your burger," Collins ordered.

"Oh, no, that's okay. I'm fine," Eddie protested even as her tummy rumbled again.

"Eddie, remember what we just said about being yourself?" Collins asked. "That includes your eating habits. Do what's right for your body, not what you think other people want you to do. You've got to feed your own metabolism."

Officer Mowery put down his burger and cut it in half. "Listen to the nutritional science major. Here. We'll go halfsies. Eddie." He put the half sandwich on a napkin and held it out to Eddie.

"Thanks." Eddie picked up the burger. God, it smelled so good. _Beef. Cheese. Bacon. Did anything smell better than bacon?_ She took a bite. It tasted even better. "Mmmmm," she moaned.

Officer Collins snickered. "Mowery, I thought you enjoyed your food, but you don't have anything on Eddie."

"Well, this is the _best_ burger ever!"

"It's the burger to bun ratio. They get it right." Mowery explained.

"And the cheese – it's just the right amount," Eddie added.

"Mm-hmm," Mowery agreed around a bite. "And not a veggie on it."

"I know! Who needs salad on a burger?"

"Not me, that's for sure! Every now and then, if some cook puts those tomato things on my burger, I hand them right off to my partner here. She actually likes the veggies!"

Officer Collins shook her head. "You two." She turned her attention to her healthier club sandwich, which even she had to admit looked a lot less appetizing than that burger.

A few minutes later, Mowery had finished off his half-burger. "You see, Eddie? There's an example right there about how being yourself is better."

Eddie licked the last little bit of bacon fat off her fingers. "How's that?"

"If you're yourself, you get to eat bacon cheeseburgers here," Mowery explained.

"There is that," Eddie agreed.

"You'll have more fun at college also. Mowery could tell you more – he's done a few short undercover assignments. I've only worked vice a few times…"

"She means playing a hooker," Mowery whispered to Eddie.

"Even that can be a lot of mental work, and we're only doing that for a day or two. Keeping it up for four years…" Collins shook her head. "I can't imagine how hard that would be. And you deserve to have the best college experience you can."

"But won't everyone think it's weird if I suddenly change my name?" Eddie asked.

"Most of them won't even remember by next semester. People change so much the first year at college," Collins reassured her. "Heck, you probably won't even see most of the students from your dorm after this year. You'll find roommates from your friend group; you'll start taking classes related to you major next semester; you'll get involved in sports and clubs. Those are the people you'll see the most."

"'Edie' is an art history major," Eddie confessed to the two cops. "I don't even _like_ art that much."

"Definitely should change that, then." Mowery laughed.

"Yeah. I chose it because my mother is really into art. I hoped… maybe it would show her I was still her daughter too." Eddie swiped at a tear that snuck out unexpectedly.

"Hey, now. You ready for some of that pie also?" Mowery asked. Without waiting for a reply from Eddie, he called the waitress over and ordered a second slice of the chocolate cream pie, and a slice of the apple pie. "For Collins. She like to pretend apple pie is a health food," he teased his partner. "And Eddie? Try not to judge your mother too hard. She's adjusting to a lot of changes right now also. She probably never saw herself being single again or trying to start over after so many years with your father. Or being alone, with you leaving for college."

"I guess not," Eddie admitted.

"Took my Mama and me a few years before we had a good relationship, after my father walked out on us. But we got there. Give it a chance."

"Maybe I'll go see her tonight. That's where I told my friends I was going anyway. Assuming I'm not going to jail." Eddie looked at the desserts the waitress was bringing to their table. "But can we wait until after I finish _that_?"

==BB==BB==

Jamie glanced over at his partner. "So, the big break the cops gave you was letting you finish your pie before booking you?" he asked. "Must've been _some_ pie."

"Shut up," Eddie retorted. "And, no. It was a little more than that…"

* * *

 _Tomorrow: A favor…_


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER 3**

* * *

As the waitress placed the pie slices in front of them, Officer Mowery pulled out his report book and a pen. He turned to his partner. "So, Collins, what _should_ we do about Miss…" He looked over to Eddie, who had just shoved a forkful of pie into her mouth. "What's that name you're using?"

"ah'deh," Eddie replied around the bite of pie.

"Addy." The officer wrote something in his report book, then waited until she started savoring another bite of pie. "Last name?"

"Yv'an'ah'vish,"

"Yavonovich," Mowery wrote in his book. He turned to his partner. "So, how do you think we should we report what Addy Yavonovich did tonight?" He winked at Eddie.

"Section 145.00 of the New York Penal Code, Criminal Mischief, Fourth Degree." Collins stated.

"Hmm. But was there the required amount of property damage to the property of another? The only damage was to the one bottle. Don't think it'd be worth $250, and it was Addy's property."

"So maybe not." Collins thought for a minute. "Public intoxication?"

"Hey," Eddie protested.

"No, she's not drunk," Mowery responded.

"Minor in possession?"

"I don't know. Did we see enough to make that stick?"

"She _was_ holding the one bottle."

"Yes, but maybe she was driving by and saw the trash by the side of the road. She could've been trying to clean up that mess someone else left behind. Putting the bottles back in their holder to take in for recycling."

"Could have been." Officer Collins snapped her fingers. "I got it! Open container!"

Eddie looked from one cop to the other, trying to figure out what was going on.

"But the bottle she was holding was closed," Mowery argued. "And that other one… We can't really call that a 'container' anymore."

"No, I guess we can't. How about, possession of drug paraphernalia. The bottle opener."

"If that's a crime, you'd better arrest me, too, 'cause I got one on my keychain."

"Well, I'm out of ideas," Collins stated.

"So, maybe we just let Addy Yavonovich go?"

"Works for me," Collins agreed.

"What about it, Eddie? You think we should let Addy go?"

"That's okay with me," Eddie quickly agreed.

"And maybe Edie Ivanovic also?"

Eddie nodded. "I think it's time to do that."

==BB==BB==

"So, what? They just let you go?" Jamie asked.

"Not entirely. They did write up a report on their interaction with 'Addy Yavonovich' - a name that wouldn't trace back to me without a whole lot of digging - and my story about that creep at the liquor store, and gave me a warning not to do anything like that again. Hey, does your brother Danny know Officer Mowery?" Eddie asked as she thought back on her conversation with the two officers.

"Lee Mowery? Yeah, I think they were at the academy together. They were always joking around whenever Danny visited the 12th, before Mowery transferred. Why?"

"Just something Mowery said." Eddie recalled Mowery's and Collins' final warning to her…

==BB==BB==

"And one more thing," Mowery said. "No more throwing bottles at federal building, okay?"

"Yeah, Eddie. This could have gone a lot different for your tonight. We're doing you a favor here. If it had been some other cops that rolled up on you…"

"Like Bradley. He's got a stick up his… behind," Mowery added. "Or Reagan."

"Which one? Because I've worked a few vice assignments with Joe Reagan, and he's a doll. I think he would've understood. Danny Reagan, though..."

Mowery laughed. "Danny's not a doll. He's an action figure. But don't let him fool you. He's got a soft side. He might have let 'Addy' off."

"Yeah, and made her his CI for any university-related crimes," Collins added.

"Probably. You know who would have been worse than Bradley? The Feds. That building our friend here was attacking _is_ a federal building."

"And that's why you had me drive my car over here?" Eddie figured out.

Mowery nodded. "The Fibbies see those broken bottles, see your car, run the plates, and _boom_ , Edit Janko is in trouble with the feds. And you don't need to start off your adult life with a federal record, right?"

"No, that would be bad." Eddie nodded in agreement.

"A federal record really would limit your career opportunities. Law, teaching, most of jobs in finance..." Collins added.

"Ugh, finance. No thanks," Eddie interrupted.

"Policing," Mowery added.

"Law enforcement. And probably a lot of others," Collins concluded.

"That's right, Eddie. Don't limit your opportunities by getting in trouble. You take the break we're giving you, and go make something good with it, okay? Re-start your fresh start and make it the best you can."

==BB==BB==

"Action figure," Jamie laughed. "I'm going to tell Danny that."

"No, you're not," Eddied demanded. "Remember? Nothing I said leaves the car. _Nothing._ "

"Okay. Okay. My lips are sealed," Jamie relented. "So what happened after they let you go?"

"I drove down to my grandparent's place in Philly and put the car in their garage. And, before you interrupt, I know Mowery said I should make up with my mom, but it just wasn't the right time. And it's not like she would have wanted that car around her anyway. And I spent the weekend with them, and Monday morning, I went back to school as 'Edit - Eddie – Janko.' And, like Officer Collins said, I found out who my real friends were. Hailey stuck by me, and Melissa, and a few other girls, and I tried to have the best college experience I could under the circumstances. And, before you ask, yes, I kept the Art History major. It was going to only be until I decided on something else, but then it got interesting, okay? And somewhere along the way, I decided I wanted to be a cop, so maybe I could help someone the way Officer Mowery and Officer Collins helped me that night."

"Wait. Officer Collins. Lori Collins?" Jamie asked as the name suddenly registered in his head.

"That's right. The same Officer Lori Collins who died my first night on the job."

"Did you recognize her, that night she was shot?"

"Not like I would have forgotten her, not after what she did."

"Well, that explains a lot," Jamie commented. "Why you didn't want to guard the suspect or go against her partner and those other cops…"

"She'd just died, almost right in front of us, and I never got the chance to thank her or to show her that I'd taken the chance she and Officer Mowery gave me and made something good with it," Eddie explained.

Jamie glanced over at his partner, then reached over squeeze her hand. "You've shown enough other people. And you'll get that chance to pass it on. Maybe not with young Morgan, but there will be someone else you'll help."

"I know. Next time, right?"

"That's right." Jamie pulled the car into the station's parking lot. "But not today, because we are off tour as of now."

"Good," Eddie exclaimed. "All that talking about burgers made me hungry. You'll join me?" It wasn't really a question. Their after-work meal plans seemed to include each other, more and more often.

"Sure," Jamie agreed. It wasn't like he had any other plans tonight.

"And, in honor of Officer Collins, I'll share the tomatoes from my burger with you."

"Oh, like you ever eat those things," Jamie teased back. "C'mon, let's go get changed and get you to dinner before you pass out."

* * *

 _Thanks for reading, and for reviewing!_

 _Look for another Story Behind That sometime in the next few months, if real life cooperates! :)  
_


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